For a more comprehensive history of the pre-divergence Federation see the relevant sections of the Federation history page.

The arrival of the Narada

The Federation was an active component at the very beginnings of the Kelvin timeline, when the Federation StarfleetstarshipUSS Kelvin investigated the black hole from which the Narada was emerging in 2233. The Narada fired upon the Kelvin as soon as it arrived, and in the ensuing battle the Kelvin was destroyed when George Samuel Kirk, Sr. piloted it on a collision course into the Narada in an attempt to disable the much larger Romulan vessel, to allow Kelvin survivors to escape.

This incident immediately set the Federation on a different path than that of the prime reality. Starfleet began to design ships differently from those of the original timeline, and the attack had individual effects, most notably that James T. Kirk (a major Federation historical figure in the prime reality) grew up without his father, sending his life on a new course, though ultimately he did attend Starfleet Academy and serve in Starfleet.

The destruction of Vulcan

In 2258 the Narada returned to Federation space, launching an attack on Vulcan; while a significant portion of Starfleet was operating in the Laurentian system at the time a task force was mobilised from Earth to respond to the attack. The force was swiftly eliminated by the Narada upon its arrival. The USS Enterprise was spared as the Narada's commander, Nero, wished Spock to witness the destruction of Vulcan. Nero demanded the Enterprise's commander, Christopher Pike, shuttle aboard the Narada, and later extracted information from him allowing the Narada to attack Earth unhindered by its defense systems.

Nero's intent was to destroy every world in the Federation, and his second target was Earth. Fortunately the crew of the Enterprise, commanded by James T. Kirk, were able to determine this and work to halt the attack and destroy the Narada, saving Earth and the Federation, and securing Kirk a place in Federation history in this reality. (TOSmovie & novelization: Star Trek)

↑D-A-C gives no date, but as it features the USS Enterprise it is presumably set after the events of Star Trek, which featured the launch of the Enterprise in 2258. The reason for the Federation/Romulan confrontation at this time is not made clear.